Category: News (Page 1 of 22)

PeopleForBikes has released its third annual ratings of the best cities for bicycling in the United States: the 2020 PlacesForBikes City Ratings. Lawrence has been recognized as a top-performing city in the 2020 Ratings, ranking 3rd in the individual "safety" scoring category.
 
The PeopleForBikes City Ratings program is a data-driven analysis that evaluates more than 550 cities and towns and shows city leaders how they can invest to make bicycling better for all residents and visitors. City Ratings are scored across five key indicators: 

1. Ridership (how many people are riding bikes)
2. Safety (how safe is it to ride bikes)
3. Network (how easy is it for people to bike where they want to go)
4. Reach (how well the network serves all parts of the community)
5. Acceleration (how fast the community is working to improve biking).

Lawrence had a safety score of 3.9, which was the third-best score in the category nationwide. The full ratings are available at: cityratings.peopleforbikes.org.

"This recognition shows that we should take pride in the work we are doing to improve bicycling in Lawrence and to calm our streets for all users," said Jessica Mortinger, Transportation Planning Manager, City of Lawrence.

Data for the ratings come from existing sources (including the U.S. Census American Community Survey and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System), as well as sources developed by the PeopleForBikes team to capture city-specific data based on mapping, city planning information and survey responses from community members. This year, individuals submitted a record-breaking 68,000 surveys. From these sources, 184 calculations are performed per city to determine the five category scores, as well as a city or town’s overall score. Read more about the methodology here.

“Now in its third year, the City Ratings create a complete picture of bicycling in cities based on measurable factors,” says Rebecca Davies, bicycle networks data manager for PeopleForBikes. “Top scorers are cities of all types and geographies who have succeeded in different ways, including cities that have made strong historical investments in active transportation as well as cities pursuing ambitious plans to rapidly implement high-quality bicycle networks on their streets.”
 
City Ratings is a key component of the PlacesForBikes program, which provides measurement tools, guidance, peer networking, and storytelling to help U.S. cities quickly plan, build and promote great places to ride of all kinds. PlacesForBikes is supported by a generous grant from Trek Bicycle Corporation, as well as contributions from other bike businesses, foundations, and individuals.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization is looking for volunteers for a variety of bicycle and pedestrian counting projects happening this September in Lawrence, Eudora and Baldwin City. There are hundreds of available counting opportunities as part of the following projects:

• The annual Bicycle Rider and Pedestrian Project will count locations throughout Lawrence, Eudora and Baldwin City to gather data on bicycling and walking usage to assist city and regional leaders in estimating usage and demand for bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

• The Lawrence School Crossing Guard Count is one of our first steps to developing a citywide Safe Routes to School Plan. Data is being gathered at existing school crossing guard locations. This data collection effort was started in the spring, but rain delayed the completion of the counts.

• The Lawrence Downtown Count is an ongoing effort to collect usage numbers. These counts have been conducted every spring and fall. 

To sign up as a volunteer for any of the three counts visit: www.lawrenceks.org/mpo/volunteer
 
For more information about volunteering for bicycle and pedestrian counts, please contact: Ashley Myers, Transportation Planner, at (785) 832-3155 or [email protected]  

The final conceptual design for the 13^th Street and 21^st Street Bicycle Boulevards is now available to view on the City of Lawrence website, here: lawrenceks.org/bike-blvds
 
The Bicycle Boulevards design has evolved to account for safety considerations, best practices, and public input. Feedback from previous open houses in February and March 2019 as well as from Lawrence Listens surveys was incorporated into the final conceptual design.
 
Community members are invited to review the final conceptual design online or at one of two open houses being held this week. Open houses will be hosted in a come-and-go format where attendees can review and discuss the final conceptual design with project staff and the design consultant. Both open houses will cover the same content.
 
Open houses will be held on Wednesday, May 15 and Thursday, May 16 at the following locations:

• Wednesday, May 15 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
  Meeting in the City Commission Room at City Hall (6 E. 6th Street)
• Thursday, May 16 from 4 – 6 p.m.
  Meeting at the East Lawrence Recreation Center (1245 E. 15th Street)

Feedback on the final conceptual design can be provided in person at an open house event or online through Lawrence Listens. Go to the Lawrence Listens web page and select the “Bicycle Boulevards – Final Conceptual Design” survey to share your input.
 
Project staff will present the final conceptual design to the Transportation Commission on Monday, June 3. A presentation to the City Commission will follow.
 
Questions on the Bicycle Boulevards project can be directed to:

• Amanda Sahin, engineering program manager, City of Lawrence: [email protected]
• Jessica Mortinger, transportation planning manager, Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization: [email protected]